Agreed,
        If anyone is serious about perpetual motion then you should be
looking at converting heat (atomic kinetic energy) to motion, so some sort
of nano-machines turning a generator or a very sensitive infra-red
solar-cell.  Then you can get power *out* of your fridge :)

  only over way is tapping zero-point field energy (if it can be tapped),
since it seems that the volume of 'empty' space occupied by a cup is enough
to boil all the oceans, this option is likely to a) not work, b) blow us all
to bits.

we could always make a small black hole, feed it charged particles and give
it a good spin.  So long as we kept feeding it to keep the spin up we could
extract power.  Sooner or later though it may get a little hard to handle!

        cya,    Andrew...

PS:  Since we are getting tones of sunlight, why not use that?  Anyone made
a solar powered PIC grass eating robot?

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Erik Reikes [SMTP:ereikes@XSILOGY.COM]
> Sent: Friday, September 24, 1999 9:53 AM
> To:   PICLIST@MITVMA.MIT.EDU
> Subject:      Re: [OT] Magnetic Field
>
> At 07:26 PM 9/23/99 -0600, you wrote:
>
> >"attractor."  This obviously requires a not-insignificant amount of
> energy.
> >it seems obvious that the energy must be coming from the magnets.  I know
> it
> >took energy to make the magnets in the first place, but it is still hard
> for
> >me to believe that you could "run down" the magnets by this process any
> time
> >soon.
> >
>
> The only energy that is added to a magnet during the magnetization process
> is used to reduce its entropoy (make it less random).
>
> Magnetization simply means the domains of iron molecules (or whatever is
> used) are aligned in the crystal lattice to make a net Magnetic field.
>
> The energy in your example comes from the potential energy imparted in
> pulling the magnets apart.  Its analogous to driving down a hill : You can
> coast all the way down a hill in what would seem energy free motion.
> Really you are just trading potential for kinetic.
>
> This is why all of these perpetual motion machines don't work.  Ep + Ek =
> K.     TANSTAAFL.
> It would be possible to have perpetual motion with 0 friction and 0
> radiated energy.  While you can make these two effects very small, they
> are
> never 0.  Plus, you never get anything out.
>
> -Erik Reikes